2015 El Roble Bike Marathon

Unless my record keeping is off this would be the thirty-eighth year of El Roble's Bike Marathon, the twenty-four hour ride that raises funds for the Red Cross (actually, I am not sure of the beneficiary. In years past it has been the Red Cross, while last year the students raised funds for the Foothill Family Shelter, and did not hear who funds would be donated to this time around). Students who participate, as either riders or counters, must meet certain academic requirements, take part in practices, and be ready to move on to high school next year. The Bike Marathon is a goal-oriented endeavor, on multiple levels, fosters a sense of community and, rightfully, a corresponding sense of accomplishment.

Students alternate with an hour of riding followed by one to rest, from noon of day one to noon of day two. I took a peek at the lap board where I noticed a familiar name, a family well recognized in local cycling circles. Over his first three hours of riding he was spinning laps at greater than sixty per hour, or more than one each minute. Several students were matching those numbers, or even better, one even tallying seventy-five laps in one hour.

However many laps riders end up with at the end of the marathon, everyone has managed a good start. I may not be there to see how it all ends, whether records are set, hear how many pizzas were consumed, but congratulations to all the students, the teachers and administrators who organize, and the parents who give up a nights sleep. Ride hard and have fun doing it.